That Saint Peter, before he went to Rome, founded the see of Antioch is attested by many Saints of the earliest times, including St. Ignatius of Antioch and Pope St. Clement I. It was just that the Prince of the Apostles should take under his particular care and surveillance this city, which was then the capital of the East, and where the faith so early took such deep roots as to give birth there to the name of Christians. There his voice could be heard by representatives of the three largest nations of antiquity — the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Latins. St. John Chrysostom says that St. Peter was there for a long period; Pope St. Gregory the Great claims that though he was seven years Bishop of Antioch. He did not reside there at all times, but governed its apostolic activity with the wisdom his mandate assured.

If as tradition affirms, he was twenty-five years in Rome, the date of his establishment at Antioch must be within three years after Our Lord’s Ascension, for he would have gone to Rome in the second year of Claudius. He no doubt left Jerusalem when the persecution which followed St. Steven’s martyrdom broke out (Acts 8:1), and remained in Antioch until he escaped miraculously from prison and from the hands of Herod Agrippa, while in Jerusalem in 43 at the time of the Passover. (Acts 12) Knowing he would be pursued to Antioch, his well-known center of activity, he went to Rome.

In the first ages it was customary, especially in the East, for every Christian to observe the anniversary of his Baptism. On that day each one renewed his baptismal vows and gave thanks to God for his Heavenly adoption. That memorable day they regarded as their spiritual birthday. The bishops similarly kept the anniversary of their consecration, as appears from four sermons of Pope St. Leo the Great on the anniversary of his accession to the pontifical dignity. These commemorations were frequently continued by the people after their bishops’ decease, out of respect for their memory. The feast of the Chair of Saint Peter was instituted from very early times. St. Leo says we should celebrate the Chair of St. Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom, for as in the latter he was exalted to a throne of glory in Heaven, by the former he was installed Head of the Church on earth.

As this feast most often falls in Lent, certain churches celebrated this feast at an earlier date, in January. Hence the two feasts of the Chair of St. Peter, which the Church distinguished by connecting the more ancient one on February 22, with the Chair at Antioch and that on January 18 with the Chair of Rome. St. Peter resided indeed for some time at Antioch about the years 51-52.

It is to St. Peter, who proclaimed that Jesus was "the Christ, Son of the living God" (Gospel) when all Palestine rejected Him, that the Master commits the power to bind Satan by closing the gates of hell to open for us the gates of Heaven (Gospel). And the Head of the Church teaches us in his first Epistle that it is "by faith in the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ that the Holy Ghost sanctifies us and reconciles us to the Father."

The commemoration of Saint Paul immediately follows the Collect, Secret and Postcommunion of the feast, for the liturgy does not separate those who have so justly been called the two pillars of the Church.

We want to thank the Friends of Our Lady of Fatima for expediting these resources of the Propers. Sources: Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the Marian Missal , 1945 Bio: Catholic Encyclopedia 1913 edition and Butler's Lives of the Saints

The Lord made to him a covenant of peace, and made him a prince; that the dignity of priest-hood should be to him for ever.
(Ps. 131: 1) O Lord, remember David, and all his meekness.
v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat The Lord made to him...

O God, Who, committing to blessed Peter, Thine apostle, the keys of the
heavenly kingdom, didst bestow on him the pontifical function of binding and
loosing, grant that, by the help of his intercession, we may be delivered
from the bonds of our sins. Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever.R.Amen.

Commemoration of St. Paul

Let us pray. O God, Who by the preaching of the blessed apostle Paul didst
teach the multitude of the gentiles, grant us, we pray Thee, that, honoring
his commemoration, we may experience the benefit of his patronal influence
with Thee. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever.R.Amen.

Commemoration of St. Prisca

Let us pray. Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God that we, who venerate the
birthday of blessed Prisca, Thy virgin and martyr, may both rejoice for her
annual solemnity and profit by the example of so great faith. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever.R.Amen.

Lesson from the Epistle of blessed Peter the Apostle.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers dispersed through
Pontus, Galatía, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the
fore-knowledge of God the Father, unto the sanctification of the Spirit,
unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, Who according to His great mercy hath regenerated us unto a lively
hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that can not fade, reserved in heaven for
you, who by the power of God are kept by faith unto salvation, ready to be
revealed in the last time Wherein you shall greatly rejoice, if now you must
be for a little time made sorrowful in divers temptations: that the trial of
your faith, much more precious than gold (which is tried by the fire), may be found unto praise, and glory, and
honor, at the appearing of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he delights exceedingly in His commandments. V. His seed shall be mighty upon the earth: the generation of the righteous shall be blessed. V. Glory and wealth shall be in his house: and his justice remaineth for ever and ever.

The Lord be with you.R. And with thy spirit. The continuation of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.R. Glory to Thee, O Lord

At that time, Jesus came into the quarters of Cæsarea Philippi, and He asked
His disciples, Saying, "Whom do men say that the Son of man is?" But they
said, Some, John the Baptist, and other some, Elias, and others, Jeremias,
or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to them, "But whom do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter answered, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answering, said to him, "Blessed art thou, Simon BarJona, because flesh and
blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in Heaven: and I
say to thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and to thee I will give
the keys of the kingdom of Heaven;
and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in Heaven;
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven."Praise be to Christ

The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give to thee the keys of the
kingdom of Heaven.

We beseech Thee, O Lord that the prayer of the blessed apostle Peter may
commend the sacrifices and supplications of Thy Church, so that the
celebration we hold for his glory may profit for our pardon. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son. Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever.R.Amen.

Commemoration of St. Paul

Sanctify, O Lord, the offeriíngs of Thy people by the prayer of Thine
apostle Paul, that those things which are pleasing to Thee by Thine own
institution may become the more pleasing by the favor of his intercession.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son. Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever.R.Amen.

The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.
Lift up your hearts.R.We have lifted them up to the Lord.Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. R. It is meet and just.
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, to entreat Thee
humbly, O Lord, that Thou wouldst not desert Thy flock, O everlasting
Shepherd; but, through Thy blessed apostles, wouldst keep it under Thy
constant protection; that it may be governed by those same rulers, whom as
vicars of Thy work, Thou didst set over it to be its pastors. And therefore
with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dóminations and with all the
hosts of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of Thy glory, evermore saying:
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY...

The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.Let us pray.
Let the gift we offer bring us joy, O Lord, that, as we declare Thee
wonderful in Thine apostle Peter, so through him we may share the generosity
of Thy forgiveness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.

Commemoration of St. Paul

Let us pray. Sanctified by the mystery of salvation, O Lord, we pray that
his prayer may fail us not, by whose patronage Thou halt granted us to be
governed.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.